Leafs victims of own popularity

The popularity of the Maple Leafs has television networks doing all they can to get the Blue and White on TV, which helped result in the Leafs playing road games on consecutive nights to open the season. (DAVE THOMAS/Toronto Sun files)

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Randy Carlyle knows there will be no sympathy coming from the NHL head office, from any of his opponents and for those who love to laugh at the Leafs just on principle.

But in ways far beyond the control of the coach, management and the players, sometimes it sucks to be the Maple Leafs.

As Carlyle and his team embark on a challenging start to a challenging assignment -- earning a repeat playoff berth in a tougher, realigned division -- the opening week couldn't offer a more stern assignment.

Not only do the Leafs open up on the road against their historic Original Six rival Habs here on Tuesday night, they will jet off to Philadelphia immediately following the game and meet the Flyers in their own season opener the next night.

Carlyle was blunt enough the other day to label it as a "competitive disadvantage" and a situation that probably wouldn't be faced by any other team in the league. You can almost hear the Habs fans outside of the Bell Centre laughing at that one, but it's hard to dispute that the schedule (not to mention the 10-game suspension to forward David Clarkson) will make it difficult to sprint out to the quick start every coach craves.

"It's a new one," Carlyle said when asked if he's ever started an NHL season with games on the road on consecutive nights. "And open two buildings.

"There's not a lot of sympathy coming from the league. It's tough. I'm not real happy with it."

Nor should he be, but if he's looking to place blame, Carlyle could start with the corporation he works for and the monster influence it carries. The team that haters love to kick when it's down (and even when it's not, it seems) may not have been a model operation on the ice in its recent past, but in the board room it can be dominant.

Call it the price you pay to be the Maple Leafs, but all that fiscal success comes with a cost. Everybody loves winning, but owners like money more and that historic reality of the Leafs is still in effect.

And when it comes to the rough start to the 2013-14 season, start with television. TSN successfully lobbied to have its Wednesday night national schedule debut with the Leafs and the league complied with the Flyers -- a guaranteed ratings blockbuster.

It didn't take long for CBC to object, likely at full volume. With the big-ticket rights the public broadcaster shells out, Hockey Night in Canada wasn't about to let TSN get the jump on the first Leafs telecast.

The result? Tuesday here in Montreal.

The schedule is further complicated by the fact that the pre-season slate is in place first leaving the Leafs with a home-and-home against the Red Wings on Friday and Saturday, a day off Sunday then must one day to prepare for the rough start.

As Carlyle said, there won't be sympathy in any quarters -- especially for a franchise that pulls so much weight with the league and the networks that cover it. But what has resulted is the rather odd predicament of Leafs "partners" who stand to benefit from any success the team has in the form of big ratings inadvertently creating a situation that makes winning more difficult.

Then there is the achingly overdone pre-season, another work-place annoyance for Carlyle. The coach, like his players, clearly had enough of training camp a week before it was done.

In the eight-team Atlantic Division, though, the Leafs were one of just three teams to play eight exhibition games, one more than the rest. The Habs played seven and wrapped up the pre-season last Thursday.

Their second opponent in the back-to-back debut, the Flyers, had just six dates (including a split-squad day), finished on Friday and have been waiting at home for their Wednesday home opener versus the Leafs since.

Could the Leafs scale back? Of course they could, but with the prospects of a full Air Canada Centre (even if it's to watch predominantly AHL personnel as Saturday's scrimmage with Detroit turned out to be) the money has always carried more weight than the coach.

A side note to all that TV exposure: Let's just say if Phoenix forward Paul Bissonnette was a Maple Leaf, there isn't much chance his 10-game suspension for leaving the bench wouldn't have been reduced to three.

The main reason for the reduction was the lack of video available to make the full suspension stand. There was no such missing evidence when Clarkson did essentially the same thing to run down Buffalo's John Scott.

To his credit, Carlyle hasn't sounded like a coach reaching for excuses before they're even necessary. And realistically, does a rough opening two nights really signal the end of the world? The Leafs catch a break of their own for their Air Canada Centre opener against the Sens, who play in Buffalo the night before.

No, it doesn't spell disaster. But with the new, tougher division, Clarkson out for most of the opening month and the pressure to build off last season's successes, a fast start may be critical.

Being weighed down with the complications that come with the Maple Leafs being such a money machine won't make it any easier.

LEAFS UNDERDOG IN OPENER

With the new season finally about to start, the Maple Leafs are in familiar territory.

Underdogs.

With the benefit of home-ice advantage and no doubt the fact that they finished six points in front of the Leafs last season, the Canadiens are the clear choice of oddsmakers in Tuesday night's curtain-raiser at the Bell Centre.

At most sports books on the Las Vegas strip, the Habs are listed as the minus-135 choice, meaning that to profit $100 you would have to lay out $135. The underdog Leafs are listed at plus-115, meaning that a $100 wager would return you a profit of $115.

As for the new and possibly improved tandem of James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier in the Leafs net? Oddsmakers are still expecting some scoring in the opener with the over/under total being set at 5.5.

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Leafs victims of own popularity

Randy Carlyle knows there will be no sympathy coming from the NHL head office, from any of his opponents and for those who love to laugh at the Leafs just on principle.

But in ways far beyond the control of the coach, management and the players, sometimes it sucks to be the Maple Leafs.

As Carlyle and his team embark on a challenging start to a challenging assignment -- earning a repeat playoff berth in a tougher, realigned division -- the opening week couldn't offer a more stern assignment.